


You Don't Have to Take My Word For It

by LightsCameraZaction



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Ableism, Ableist Language, Illiteracy, Illiterate Jim Kirk, ableist slurs, references to Tarsus IV
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-22
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-01-03 21:44:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12155397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LightsCameraZaction/pseuds/LightsCameraZaction
Summary: Jim accepts Pikes dare to join Starfleet and do better than his father. There's only one problem. He is completely illiterate.





	1. Chapter 1

Jim had no idea what he was doing here. He had already been greeted with an all too bright “Welcome to Starfleet cadet!” five times. He didn't think he would ever feel ‘welcome’ at Starfleet.

It might have been stupid to take on a dare when he was drunk, concussed and still reeling with adrenaline from a bar fight he had lost. It had been a mere few hours and he could already tell that joining Starfleet was a mistake. He had lost his dad, his mom and his childhood to space. Might as well let it take everything else too.

If Jim were honest with himself he would admit that death wasn't his biggest concern with joining starfleet. He had faced death many times in the past and come out unscathed. At least as far as he was concerned, mental health was not something he would consider a priority. No, Jim's fear was that Starfleet was an academic institution and Jim? Well Jim couldn’t read or write. He fucked up this time. Absently he wondered if Captain Pike had any idea that he couldn’t read when he was talking to Jim in that bar, rattling off about his aptitude tests and vague ill defined potential. He decided that Pike probably didn’t.

Jim approached his first hurdle. Having made the spur of the moment decision, seven hours ago whilst still hungover, to join Starfleet; he hadn't filled out any of the registration forms he needed to join Starfleet usually done before cadets arrived on campus. When he stepped off the shuttle he was directed to the administrative offices to complete them. Illiteracy and paperwork didn’t mix well. Luckily this was not Jim's first rodeo.

The first step in filling out paperwork while illiterate was to find your target. Jim scanned the row of clerks in from of him. His eyes stopped at window three. It was a shorter line so the clerk was under less pressure to rush people through. She was a Woman. Which meant she was more likely to be helpful. She was also Middle-aged. While that wasn’t a particular advantage, it gave him material he could work with. He slid into the the line for the third window and started to craft his story.

He approached the window and greeted the clerk with his brightest smile. “Good Afternoon!”

“Welcome to Starfleet Academy young man!” he did well to avoid wincing at hearing the greeting again. “You haven't completed the pre-registration form right?”

He chuckled “No, this may have been a little bit of a spur of the moment decision.”

“Alright then, first things first, I need you to fill out this form”

This was the hard bit.

He frowned as he took the clipboard and in an exaggerated gesture, he moved it back and forth in front of his face squinting. “Gosh, you know, I feel so old saying this, especially with all these fresh faces around,” Jim said. It was a good opener he thought. A little bit of humour to lighten her mood and maybe establish a common ground with her. By highlighting the fact that he was a mature student he hoped she would see that he faced the same insecurities she had. Feeling old amongst all the fresh outta high-school teenagers.

Next he gave his story, making sure he wouldn’t be held responsible for his situation. She would be more likely to refuse help if she felt he is at fault for his situation.

“I left my reading glasses in my other bag, I didn't expect to need them until after my flight, but wouldn’t you know they moved it onto another shuttle.”

Lastly with the most tooth rotting sugary sweet voice he can muster: “You wouldn't be able to help a guy out, would ya?” He made sure to downplay the request. She’s not ‘filling out a form for him’ she’s just ‘helping a guy out’.

The clerk smiled at him “Oh don't worry about it sweetie, my husband forgets his all the time, I have to do everything for him.” Jim grinned as he passed clipboard back to her. “Thank you so much. You know how hard it is these days to find someone who's willing to help someone out? It’s a rarity nowadays.” He knew from experience that you may come face to face with the same the clerk again. He knew that if he already had their favour it would make it much easier the next time. He made sure to make note of her name tag. “Ooh it’s not a big deal” she smiled, “you're very welcome”.

The clerk filled out the form with him. Jim answered her questions and produced his identification as needed. “All right, that's everything you need to do here.” she said “take these copies over to the accommodation office, they will assign you to a room, you can follow the signs to get there. Afterwards, you will need to go to the quartermasters they will give you your uniforms, student ID card and other equipment for cadets.” Jim looked to where she gestures and saw two signs pointing in different directions. “Sorry is that the blue signs I'm following?”

“No the green ones” she said.

“Well thank you so much you’ve been a real peach.” Jim dismissed her with a wink and a wave.

It was a tried and trusted routine of his. One of the dozens of pre-made excuses he had to deal with these situations. He didn't like lying to people. He’d just gotten good at it. He took pride in that fact. The thing was, when people find out you can’t read, they treat you different. Jim wasn’t a retard but that didn't stop his old boss George from stopping him using power tools when he found out. It didn't stop Julia from buying fucking children's books and telling him “believe in yourself!” either. It became a closely guarded secret. He couldn't read but that didn't mean he was stupid. He was smart enough to cover it up pretty well.

The trip to the accommodation office is short and the color coded signage means he didn't have to constantly ask people directions which is convenient for him. After arranging a room he headed to the quarter masters following red signs this time around.

It was clear that the majority of students had their registration and accommodation sorted before coming to Starfleet, the quartermasters was completely packed with weary students who’d just come off their shuttles. Sweaty and slouching, some of them look to have been waiting a while. Amongst them he saw the more seasoned officers and cadets, Standing tall and confident, they were clearly used to long haul flights. Jim joined the queue and settled in for a long wait, this was clearly the bottleneck in the process. The line inched from table to table, He had his measurements taken for his uniforms and His picture taken. They took his intake forms stamped them, wrote something down, asked him questions and passed them back. He isn't sure which table was the exact one where they took his soul but he was pretty sure he must have handed it over at some point.

He’s finally reached the end a third-year cadet hands him a set of Uniforms, his student ID card, the key to his dorm room, and lastly a communicator and Padd together.

“These are tied to your student account,” the cadet said “all your communications will come through them, you should have them on you at all times. In the interests of security, you won't be able to activate your account on any other device. The Padd has everything you need for the basic courses, optional courses you may need to download software for.”

Well shit.

Jim had a personal padd and communicator. He realised shortly after he left home that you need them to function in the 23rd century. Can’t get a job without somewhere for employers to send you messages. It’s tough keeping up relationships by dropping in when you feel like it because you don't have a way of asking them in advance. His Padd was a beat up old thing, nearly a decade old now. His old friend Avery set him up with screen reading and speech to text programmes. They were more advanced than the standard options that Padds had for the visually impaired. He set up something similar on his communicator It was a nice gesture, really it was, until Avery got it in his head that Jim was the main character in an inspiration porn story. He thought Jim was some kind of Good Will Hunting character destined for great things. His heart clenched thinking about Avery. He would probably be proud of him for joining Starfleet but Jim couldn't deal with that line of thought.

The point is Jim had a system. One that this new device did not have. Sure he could download the software again except for the fact that when Jim turned the padd on he had no idea what the screen said. He didn't know what any of the options said and he wouldn't until he turned on screen reading. He thought that was always an oversight with these kinds of things. Jim needed the standard screen reader turned on. From there he could install his own software. He could get something advanced enough that he would be able to use the padd more effectively. 

Once again Jim found himself in need of help but a quick survey of his situation told him that this situation was quite different. For one the cadet he was talking to already looked like he was in a sour mood at this point in the day he would be exhausted. Jim certainly was. There was a long queue behind him too. New cadets had been shuffling in while he was waiting. The cadet would want to get him out of here, and he wasn't in the mood to be giving out favours. Jim had a method for this kind of situation too. He didn't like it. It lacked finesse and it was kind of a dick move. The method was simple. Talk.

The third year cadet was already urging Jim out of there when he spoke up.

“Hey do you know how to turn the screen reading functions on?” he asked. “You see I left my reading glasses in another bag and I get these killer migraines y’know? They hurt like hell, can't stand the light of the screen, feels like someone's driving an ice pick into my eye socket!” then he kept talking. “They get triggered by me reading for too long without my glasses and I just know when I open this up I’m gonna have a lot of long welcome messages and paperwork to read through. It'll all fine print too right?” And he kept talking. “But the bag I put my glasses in got moved to another shuttle, all my personal stuff too! My books, some of my clothes, my computer, my medications. My migraines medication too actually. Most of it isn’t stuff I need right now but it’s a pain in the ass.” If he kept talking for long enough, “ so I kind of need the screen reader on, you know until I find out where my bag got sent too. It could be anywhere right now, you know how they send stuff on the weirdest paths, it’ll go halfway across the Atlantic before it gets here.” eventually it would be quicker to help him instead of letting him continue to talk.

Jim continued his rant, spewing every passing thought that crossed his stream of consciousness until the cadet snatched the Padd from his hold. He jabbed at the screen until the low voice of the screen reader could be heard from the device. He did the same to the communicator. Jim, keeping in his character, thanked the cadet five times and goodbye three times; each in different ways. Okay so sometimes it was fun being a pain in the ass.

All that was left was for Jim to take his shiny new gear to his dormitory. Which wasn't too difficult a task to complete even though they dropped the colour coding for the signs to the dormitories. He had to ask directions. Many times. He may or may not have asked for directions from one student standing directly next to a sign. The guy probably assumed that he was either too unobservant to see it, or too lazy to read. Jim didn't mind though. Those kinds of assumptions played right into his hand. Anything was better than the realisation that he was too stupid to read.

As he got closer to the dormitories a buzz of nervous excitement filled the air. Groups of cadets carried suitcases full of luggage to their rooms for the next year, bouncing on the tips of their toes with broad smiles on their faces. He sees some of them clutching starfleet propaganda to their chest. Seeing it makes his stomach clench and his blood hot. He may have punched out a few recruiters over that material in the past. In his defense who the hell uses a kids own dead dad to try and get them to join the military? It is the military by the way. Don't let the talk of scientific endeavour and diplomacy and discovery fool you. you go out onto the front lines, take orders, fight their battles, and die in them. Maybe that was why he joined. Captain Pike had dared him to do better. To keep as many of these people around him alive as he could. Maybe Pike saw what Jim saw. No pressure right?

It was difficult looking at how young they were. He thought he saw a kid pass by who couldn't have even left high-school. They looked so naive, so happy to be devoting their lives to a cause that would kill so many of them. It brought him back to a time and place he’d rather not think about. He wondered how was he gonna live with one of these kids. how could he find common ground with someone so idealistic? so hopeful?

As he was late registering with Starfleet he didn't have many bunking options. He ended up in a shared room. He didn't mind sharing though, it's cheap and he spent a few years couch hoping so it's wasn't anything he wasn't used to. He hoped his roommate is at least passably courteous.

The room was small and plainly decorated. Matching pairs of furniture, Beds with white synthetic sheets, an adjoining bathroom about the size of a broom closet shower included. All in all, it was pretty good digs as far as Jim was concerned.

The door opened behind Jim and he was greeted with a familiar face. he breathed a sigh of relief. Not a kid after all.

“Looks like they decided to put the fuck-ups together huh?”

Leonard looked up from his luggage.

“I’m a doctor, I hardly think that qualifies as a fuck-up.”

“Says the aviophobe who joined starfleet because of a failed marriage.”

Leonard muttered something under his breath that Jim couldn’t hear. he threw his backpack onto a bed and started unpacking.

The other man eyed him curiously.

“You pack light.”

Jim's shoulders stiffened “Yep.” he said popping the P.

“I woulda figured a pretty boy like yourself would have five bags full of hair curlers and shit”

Jim jut his hip out and smirked.

“You think I'm pretty?”

Leonard scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“You know what I meant.”

“I’ll take the compliment, Doctor.”

“Just don't let it go to your head”

“I’ll let it get to one of my heads.”

He groaned and ran his nails down his face. “You did not just say that.”

Jim barked a laugh.

He liked this guy, he was easy to wind up. Leonard took a bag of if toiletries into the bathroom. Jim used the opportunity to hide his un-perishables under his bed. He always kept a few rations on him. Hid them where he could so that he could always reach them. So he wouldn't have to be worried about his food running out.

“What in sam hell are you doing on the floor?”

Jim hit his head on the bed frame in his rush to his feet. “nothing.” he said.

“don't worry kid, I'm not going to go looking for your porn” dismissed Leonard.

Jim finished quickly. He did pack light after all; as the doctor had said. He carried only essentials, toiletries, a few changes of clothes, and most importantly the food.

Leonard was still unpacking. He lined up some medical textbooks; honest to god hard back textbooks. Put out some kind small animal skull; which, honestly, was a little weird but in a cool way. Jim watched from the corner of his eye has he pulled out a few bottles of liquor to hide in his desk. Lastly, he placed a couple photos of him and a young girl that, Jim assumed, was the daughter he mentioned during their flight.

While Leonard gaze lingered on the photos a knock came at the door. Jim went to answer it and was faced with another “Welcome to Starfleet” smile. Only it this time it quickly fell flat. Jim's face, on the other hand, cracked into a grin.

“Well look who we have here, couldn’t get over me?” Jim said

“Yeah you looked so sexy flat on your ass with and bleeding nose.” said the woman on the other side of the door.

Jim hummed. “A sadist huh? I can work with that.”

Uhura, if Jim remembered the one name he got from her, crossed her arms. “What are you doing here anyway? You're not a cadet”

“I enlisted last night, I just couldnt stand the thought of not being with you.”

“Oh I'm sure, you run out of pigs to sleep with in Iowa?”

“Really? The farm animals joke again? You're a smart girl you can do better than that.”

“Well I wasn't exactly expecting to see you again.”

“So what brings you here if not my gorgeous physique?” he said gesturing to his torso. Uhura rolled her eyes. “I’m one of the student ambassadors for this block, I’m here to introduce myself and make sure you know about the talk in an hour.” Jim's eyes lit up. “Oooo you're here to introduce yourself, that means I get the first name now right?”

“Cadet Uhura is fine.”

Jim placed a hand on his chest “Well you know me, I’m Jim Kirk, This here is our resident sawbones Leonard Mccoy.” Jim said stepping out if the doorway to gestured towards the other man.

“Sawbones? Really? Is this the eighteen hundreds?” Leonard said coming up behind Jim to offer his hand. “Nice to meet you, miss Uhura. I hope you don't judge me based on my roommate.”

She smiled “Don't worry I wouldn't.”

“It's nice to know that I'm not the only one getting harassed by this idiot,” Leonard said gesturing to Jim. Uhura laughed “I'll be sure to include you as a witness if I have to make a complaint.”

Jim made an affronted noise while Leonard chuckled.

“Anyway, Like I said before, I'm your student ambassador. If you have any problems with your accommodation or courses or” she looked pointedly at Jim, “other students; you can come to me for advice. I'm here to help you get settled in as well so if there's anything you want to know about the area or Starfleet you can ask me.” she gave them both a warm smile and handed them each a card. Great, that was useless to him. “That's my contact info.”

“We sure appreciate it, I'll make sure to contact you if I need anything.” Leonard said “You said something about a talk earlier?” he asked.

“yes! Sorry, almost forgot, there's a talk at five in the main lecture theatre in the Aaron Satie Building. You should have a notification on your Padd but they told me to mention it anyway. If you leave here and head into the centre of campus there will be signs telling you where to go.” Jim repressed a sigh at the mention of yet more unintelligible signs. At least this time he could follow his roommate.

“Alright, I've got more people to meet and spread the message too. I'll leave you both to continue unpacking.” Uhura said as she headed down the hall to the next door.

Jim looked at his roommate, “alright Bones, we got an hour to kill what do you wanna do?”

“Bones?” he asked his brow furrowing.

“yeah, short for sawbones, you don't seem like a Leonard to me. Too frumpy. ”

“Leonard is just fine, thank you, and I take offence to the sawbones remark.” Jim looked up in consideration “hmm maybe it does suit you, you are pretty frumpy. I think it's just me. Doesn't sound right on my tongue y'know? Leonard. Leonard. Leonard.” Jim repeated with different inflection each time. Bones walked away from him in a huff. Jim definitely liked his new roommate. Maybe he'd even keep in touch with him when he inevitably got kicked out.

They settled into a friendly banter; riffing off each other until it was time to leave. Jim and Bones followed the crowd of new students to the lecture theatre and filed into seats next to each other. The theatre was filled with the sounds of scraping chairs and idle chatter. A strong scent of perfume wafted from a pair of girls that sat down in front of them. The noise in the hall died down as a man came onto the stage.

“Good evening everyone and welcome to Starfleet academy. I know it's been a long day for everyone. Many of you have travelled from very far to get here. So I'll try not to drag on for too long.” He cleared his throat. “I'm very glad to welcome you all here. I’m very glad to welcome you because when I look at you all I see a lot of bright young faces. I see a lot of potential.”

Immediately Jim could tell this speech wasn't designed for people like him. Compared to all these students he wasn't young. He didn't think anyone who couldn't read could be considered bright. The only time people talked about Jim's potential was about how he had already squandered all the potential his father gave him. Unfortunately, trapped by social convention in his seat, Jim had to continue to endure this speech as the attack it was on his self-esteem. It shouldn't cause any problems that a little more false bravado couldn't smooth out.

“I want you to take a good look around you; at everyone in this hall. Starfleet Academy will be your home for the next four years. My hope is that Starfleet will be your home for a long while after that. I hope you find friends here, teammates and allies. I hope that you make a family here." Jim scoffed. "These are the people you will need to trust your lives with. In the future, you will depend on these people. Your relationships here and now could make or break a mission but when we work together we can achieve great things. When we put the smartest minds and strongest people together we can not just survive but thrive together.”

That had caught Jim's attention. The man was currently giving recent Starfleet accomplishments as examples of ‘thriving'. Jim tuned him out still focused on what he said before. He actually followed his instructions and looked out over the lecture theatre. Bones gave him a raised eyebrow at his shifting. Before this point, Jim viewed these students as naive kids sucked into Starfleet propaganda. That hadn’t changed necessarily but they were the set of naive kids he was stuck with. Four years with these people; and even longer if he going through with the challenge Pike set him. He hadn't stayed in one place for more than a year since he was fourteen. That idea alone was daunting.

All these people around him; he’d have to lie to them for four years. He'd already lied to them. Even in enrolling he had already lied to so many people. He was supposed to trust these people when he couldn't even trust them with the fact he couldn't read. Not only that; they had to trust him. They had to trust him when he already failed so many people. Jim barely recognised the tremors in his hands as these thoughts raced past his mind. He heard the man on stage begin talking about a new quantum chemistry lab opening, but he didn't have the presence of mind to comprehend it. Instead, he was thinking about the insurmountable task he set himself. He had to convince all his professors, experts in their fields, that he was like every other student here. He would have to convince them that he was as capable as they were when the reality of the situation was that he wasn’t.

By the time the Man stepped back and introduced a new speaker Jim was trying to disguise harsh breaths. The new speaker prattled on about fire safety. Before he was aware of it, Jim was being lifted out of his seat. He looked up to see Bones pulling him up by his sleeve. He was shoved past the other students in the row. He apologised to each of them; acutely aware of the eyes of half the hall watching them as they made their exit.

Bones led him outside the building and sat him on a bench outside. He guided Jim’s breathing until he regained control. He could feel the leftover adrenaline in his shaking hands but he was calm enough for now.

“You want to tell me what that was about?” Bones asked and received a shrug in response.

“Have you had panic attacks before?”

Jim nodded.

“Is there anything you need right now?” 

He shook his head.

“Let’s go back to the room.”

The thoughts from his attack still plagued his mind on the journey back. He could only come to one conclusion. Jim hated turning down a dare. No matter the consequences. Jim had spent many nights in jail because of dumb dares. Hell, he’d almost died for dares, But he could not sign his life away for four years for an arbitrary challenge set by a guy with a weird fetish for his dad.

Maybe Jim would set a new record; fastest Starfleet dropout.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh god, I'm so sorry this took over a year to actually upload. When I started this before my Masters I was like "eh I might be slow but ill upload some chapters eventually" I didn't expect to actually fully complete the course before uploading any more.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who left comments and kudos on this in the meantime, I appreciate the support. 
> 
> This chapter is shorter and more dialogue heavy than the last don't worry next chapter we will see the return of Jims rather colourful inner monologue.

Pike lumbered into the administration building like a sloth that had been prodded by children to see it awoken from its mossy slumber. He thought it was a lie that joining Starfleet made you an early riser. Starfleet only served to make you appreciate sleep more and cling to your bed sheets as long as physically possible. On several occasions, when a mission had deprived him of enough precious sleep, Pike had been known to sleep up to 48 hours straight. 

He slowly shuffled up to the reception desk where Number One sat with a smile so bright, he almost felt, as though he should be shielding his eyes. Number One was a morning person, also known as, a demon.  
“What do you have for me today?” he asked.  
“Well, firstly, a double espresso.”  
“Oh my god, You're an angel!” he cried, taking the small cup from her hands.  
This early in the morning on the second day of the semester the coffee might as well have been ambrosia to the Captain. While he eagerly drank, Number One listed off his duties and appointments for the day.  
“You still have five syllabuses pending your approval,” She placed a stack of papers on the top counter of her reception desk, “and you’re waiting for three more including Scotty's engineering course this semester and of course the Vulcan language courses. Speaking of which I arranged for you to speak with Lieutenant Spock this afternoon at two as you requested.”  
“Thanks, wait, Scotty hasn't submitted his syllabus yet?”  
“Nope,” she said with a snicker.  
Chris groaned. Getting paperwork out of him was like pulling teeth.  
“What else?”  
“The Terran Aerospace Engineering Society is still waiting for your revisions to the grant propo-.”  
“I know.” he cut her off, rubbing the bridge of his nose.  
“Commander Brady sent you a message thanking you for visiting the team in Riverside,” she shuffled through some papers on her desk, after turning up nothing she said; “other than that I've tried to keep your schedule clear for the next few days to deal with problems as they come up.“  
“Thanks, Number One.”  
She hated being called Number One now that they were no longer serving on a ship together, but to him, she would always be his First Officer. As if to get revenge, she grinned widely and said:  
“Oh, and by the way, the Kirk boy is waiting in your office.”  
“What?”  
There was no way she could have arranged that in advance knowing he would call her that. What the hell was Kirk doing in his office so early?  
“What’s he in there for?!”  
“He didn't say.”  
“He came on his own? No one dragged him here?”  
“No, he just came here soon as the office opened and asked to see you.”  
That was odd.  
“And you just let him into my office? Didn't make him wait outside?”  
“He was… antsy, I felt like maybe he needed some space.”

 

Chris opened the door to his office to see Kirk sitting hunched over and rapidly tapping his foot against the floor.  
“I didn't expect to see you so soon, you haven't already gotten in trouble have you?” He asked, making his way towards his chair.  
Jim rubbed his hand from the back of his neck down to his chin.  
“I have to leave Starfleet,” he said.  
Pike sighed and brought his hand to the bridge of his nose. “Cadet, you have been in Starfleet for less than 24 hours, what possibly could have happened?”  
Jim's mood shifted fast enough to give whiplash. Where before he was small now he was large, from nervous fidgeting to a tense stillness. “Are you kidding me? I got into a bar fight,” he jabbed his thumb towards the black eye he was still sporting, “and then decided to join Starfleet on a dare from some recruiter. In case you forgot.”  
Pike tried not to let his face show any reaction to that comment. Logically he knew that Jim had only known him for a mere couple days, but emotionally he had known ‘jimmy’ since before he was even born.  
“And?” Pike asked rolling his hand in a circle “Has anything changed since you accepted that dare that I should be aware of?”  
Jim gaped at him for a moment before responding. “I don’t belong here!”  
Pike leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. “And why is that?” - a little phrase he had picked up from his counselling sessions with Dr Boyce.  
“Why do you think?! Because I hate Starfleet? Because I’m nothing like these other students? Because I get in bar fights and accept stupid dares? Because those aptitude tests you’re so crazy about were completed in Juvie? Because--” instead of finishing his point Jim flailed his arms around in a way that might suggest he was making a point but didn't make any actual coherent sense.  
“Are you finished?”, Pike asked.  
Jim glared at him. “You get what I mean.”  
“Do you think I take recruitment decisions lightly, Kirk?”  
Jim shrugged.  
“Every Cadet I choose to sponsor reflects on me. Everyone will keep a close eye on them and judge me, personally, for their behaviour. The cadets I've picked could change the path of my career, but more importantly than that, my choice in candidates could ruin lives. When that person is out in the field, how they handle it could mean the difference between life and death.”  
Jim opened his mouth to speak but was silenced by Pike raising his hand authoritatively. A move that Chris had spent longer than he was willing to admit perfecting.  
“I don't want a student like the others, Jim. Starfleet has too much of the same. It’s getting dull the same ideas over and over again. I want controversy, Kirk. I recruited you because I want you to fight with people. I want you to argue. I expect to see you in my office regularly for disciplinaries and I expect to get a thousand complaints from your superiors. I looked into your history; I know you have it in you. Get out there and be the biggest pain my ass has ever had the pleasure of dealing with.”  
“That sounds kinky, Chris,” Jim said because he could never keep a serious conversation going for too long. Pike narrowed his eyes at him in return. “That's Sir or Captain to you, Cadet.” Jim had a look on his face as if he had just eaten a sour candy.

“How about a new dare?” Pike offered.  
Kirk eyed him cautiously. “What kind of dare?”  
“You spend one semester here. You pick whatever classes you like, you actually try in your lessons and, if at the end of the semester you don't want to continue? If you don't absolutely love it? You can leave.”  
Jim squinted his eyes as if trying to find a tell that would give away the Captain's master plan. There was no master plan though. He really believed that it would be impossible to spend three months at the academy without falling in love with all it had to offer.  
“Look, the worst case scenario here is that you hate it but you get a place to sleep for three months and free meals. Lord knows that's better than what you have waiting for you outside of Starfleet. ”  
Jim spent several seconds staring directly into Pike’s eyes. Observing. Calculating. After weighing his options with great care he finally said: “Fine. One semester.”

Pike never really believed that Kirk was going to leave, but for some reason hearing that still brought a sense of relief.

“I take it from this conversation that you haven’t yet thought about what classes you want to take this year?”  
Kirk scratched at the nape of his neck.  
“Not… as such”, he had a sheepish look on his face that seemed to suggest that he didn’t even realise that was something he would have to do.  
“Okay, well you know which track you want to do right?”  
“I’m pretty good at fighting, maybe security?”  
Pike sighed. “I didn't recruit you to become a security team jarhead, Kirk. Never mind the only fighting I’ve seen from you didn't exactly end in your favour ”  
At that Kirk actually smiled. “ You sure you’re supposed to be calling your own security team Jarheads, Chris?”  
“Captain. And that never leaves this office.”  
“Okay, _Captain_ , I spent some time as a mechanic, maybe I could do engineering”  
Pike hoped that Kirk was being deliberately obtuse but he got the feeling that this was not the case.  
“I had thought, given our previous conversation, that you would go on the command track.”  
Kirk folded his arms over his chest. His entire posture became guarded. It was very clear that he did not like that suggestion.  
“I know your history, Kirk. I know you can handle it. You have experience leading people.”  
As much as his mood had been constantly shifting, Pike had not felt this distanced from Kirk in any of their interactions thus far. The glare Kirk had fixed on him was down-right frigid.  
“You. Do not. Get to talk about that.”  
Pike wanted to push it. If he were younger, when he was rash and always got his way, he probably would have. As it was now, with all his experience, he learned that it was sometimes better to take a loss early. It may be irrational, given that he had only formally known Jim for a few days, but he cared deeply for the Kirk boy. It was better now to let him know that he respected his boundaries than to push him and potentially lose his trust in the long term.  
“Okay, okay,” He raised his hands in surrender, “ you can probably get away with a few semesters without locking yourself out of any particular routes. Why don't you just pick classes that seem interesting for now? You can figure it out later.”  
“Yeah, I guess” Jim shrugged, looking towards the door, “can I go now?”  
“You’re the one who came to me” He smiled, “Dismissed.”


	3. Chapter 3

Jim led an improvisational lifestyle. He preferred to be reactionary rather than proactive. People couldn’t read your cards if you had no cards to begin with. Despite this, there were three things that Jim always planned for. 

Shelter.  
Normally one might consider food a more pressing concern than shelter. Most had felt the aching pains of hunger after skipping a meal or two; few had experienced a deprivation of shelter. Jim knew all too well, that while you could last days or weeks without food, one mere night without shelter was enough to kill. Normally he had either paid up a limited period of time in a hostel or he was crashing on someone's couch for ‘as long as you need’. The latter was almost always the more tenuous position. Currently, he had the luxury of shelter provided for the next three months. 

Food.  
The cafeteria attached to his dorm offered replicated food for free. The fresh food offered by the canteen was subsidized but you still had to pay for it. Replicated foods were an okay last resort. It wasn’t that Jim was picky about replicated foods; it was that they typically had written menus which presented difficulties for him to navigate. The worst case scenario was that he ended up with something unusual. The canteen was a better option, as he could see the items he was choosing. Unfortunately, continued use of the canteen required money.

Money.  
Jim still had a few credits from a gig he’d done earlier that month. The only thing that brought him back to Riverside in the first place was a warehouse job. They needed some heavy lifting for a large project they had just taken on. People willing to do manual labour were a premium nowadays, so the pay had been good. Finding a job while he was studying would be difficult.  
Fuck that was a strange thought. Jim. Studying. Voluntarily. But being a student, particularly at Starfleet, had advantages. Starfleet gave you some sway when applying for security jobs for events. Jim didn't enjoy feeling like the fun police, but being a bouncer was less “fun police” and more “drunken asshole” police. Either way, money wasn't an immediate concern for him right now.

It felt like a noteworthy event. The holy trifecta had been complete. It had been a long time since he had all three readily available. Just two nights ago he had been hitting on girls in bars hoping he could “spend the night” with them, both literally and figuratively. Jim would have noted the day down in his calendar if he had one.

Jim left his meeting with Pike confused. He had gone in expecting to leave Starfleet but left committed to remaining for three months. Being artful in the skill of getting what he wanted, Jim was unfamiliar with such a turn of events. He didn't even feel bad about having not gotten his way, which, in a paradoxical way, left him with a sense of unease. He prodded around his mind searching for remnants of manipulation but failed to turn anything up. Analysing the deal he couldn’t see anything that Pike had gotten out of it. Until he remembered that time he cussed out a recruiter about military propaganda taking advantage of the desperation of disadvantaged youth. He tried to convince himself he didn't count because he was only here for 3 months. He was using them not the other way around. His mood still turned sour. Is that why Pike wanted him? As cannon fodder? But why would Pike seek him out in particular? Jim resolved to be more careful in his interactions with Pike in the future. There had to be something he couldn't yet see.

In the meantime, he might as well take full advantage of his deal. 

As Jim had woken up early to see Pike the cafeteria was mostly empty. As mid-morning approached one by one students filtered in. After loading his plate with just about anything with grease visibly dripping from it, Jim paid for his food and searched for somewhere to sit. 

He saw Uhura at a table with a stack of books, a pile of highlighters and a small bowl of oatmeal. She must have gotten it from a replicator for them to have not crossed paths. Even this early in the morning she was impeccably well kept. Not a single hair out of place from her high ponytail. 

“So do I get your first name now then?” Jim said, sitting down across from her.  
Uhura tilted her head slightly. “My name was on that card I gave you. Didn't you see it?”  
Shit.  
Jim felt blood rush to his face. “I- uh- wanted to keep a little mystery between us. Can't get all the answers too easily.”  
“Sure Kirk,” She seemed unconvinced but moved on anyway.“ How’s your morning?”  
Jim rest his chin on his hand and gazed at Uhura, “Better now, with a beautiful woman.”  
She rolled her eyes. “Is it always going to be this way with you?”  
“Probably.” Jim grinned. “What are you up to?”  
“I’m trying to do some reading for Interspace Radiography before class tomorrow because I have to make sure you first years get back in one piece tonight. ”She put her notebook inside the book she was reading and closed it around her notes. “You going tonight?”  
“Where?”  
“We do a bar crawl for the first years, hit all the popular student bars.”  
“I figured all you Starfleet cadets had rods shoved too far up your asses to go drinking.”  
She smirked learning over the table towards Jim. “I think we could surprise you.”  
“I’d like to see that.”  
“I just hope you can keep up with the city kids, country boy”  
Jim raised a single eyebrow at her suggestively. Suddenly, Uhura’s whole posture changed. It looked as if a bucket of ice water had been dropped on her. She adjusted her uniform and sat up straight, focusing her attention on her oatmeal as she said. “I didn’t expect to see you up this early if I’m being honest.”  
“Yeah, I got up early to see Pike.”  
“Captain Pike?,” Uhura said, “Why?”  
“I was going to quit.”  
She frowned. “What? You’re quitting?”  
“Nah, he convinced me to stay for now.”  
“Why?”  
“I dunno,” Jim shrugged. “He’s got some kinda hard on for my dad.”  
“Who's your dad?,” Uhura asked.  
“George Kirk.”  
Uhura’s eyebrows leaped up to her hairline. It was then he’d realised what he said and wanted to sew his mouth shut. Jim did the only thing he knew to do in situations like this. Make everything worse.  
“George Kirk?! That George Kirk?,” Uhura asked.  
“Yep.”  
“So, what?” Uhura’s voice raised “You don't even want to be here?”  
“Not really.”  
“You think you get to be here just because of your dad?”  
Jim shrugged lazily, “I don’t think it. I know it. Pike practically begged me to stay.”  
“How can you be so entitled?”  
“I’m not entitled. It’s just reality.”  
Jim liked to straddle the line between bravado and arrogance. In situations like this he felt himself fail and fall into a giant pool of arrogance and he didn't know how to find the exit.  
Uhura, who was doing quite possibly the worst job Jim had ever seen covering up her anger, shoved her pens and books into her bag  
“See you around, Kirk,” she said leaving half her bowl of oatmeal behind.  
In all honesty it was one of the better reactions he’d gotten to someone learning about his family. Usually he was bombarded with questions, that he didn't know how to answer neither emotionally nor factually.

 

Jim returned to his room to find it empty, he took the time alone in his room to do work. He plugged headphones into his new Padd and transferred his screen-reading and writing software across from his old one. It was only a slightly annoying task with both Padds blaring out information at once.

With his new Padd completely set up, he reviewed the messages he had received since the day before. One of which contained some information on how to enroll in classes. Apparently, he and all first years had been auto-enrolled in ‘Starfleet Procedures and Regulations’. That bode well for his time at Starfleet. Another message told him that tomorrow he would have a lecture on ‘Academic Skills’. The stubborn part of Jim wanted to refuse that he couldn’t possibly need something like that. The smart part of Jim recognised that was fucking stupid especially from someone who hadn't been in school since he was teenager. He may have had his three basic needs taken care of at Starfleet but at this rate he was going to die of something far worse. Boredom. 

He threw himself on his bed and glared at the Padd as if it had betrayed him by relaying this information. Linking his fingers behind his head to prop himself up he commanded the Padd to give him the list of elective courses he could take.

The list was, rather arbitrarily, in alphabetical order instead of being in a useful order like ‘least likely to make you blow your brains out’. This resulted in Jim having to repeat “Next” to get through all the ‘Advanced’ courses he didn’t have the prerequisite for. He reluctantly had to admit that some of these courses did sound interesting. He assumed that their ‘Basic’ counterparts would not be. 

When the Padd had finally gotten through the arduous ‘AD’ section and moved on to ‘Aerospace Engineering’ and beyond, he had to admit that he was getting invested in some of the possible subject matters. A seed was planted in his mind that he might actually be interested in them. It was a seed he staunchly refused to water, but nevertheless it was there. The idea started to grow despite his very deliberate negligence of it. In Jim's limited experience with education he had never had a choice in what he was learning. The subject material was always basic and broad. The topics had always been forced upon him. On the rare occasion that they were actually interesting in a few short weeks the class would have to move on before it could be explored in depth. The courses at Starfleet were fundamentally different in that they were very specific in their content with courses such as ‘Turn Of The Millenium Technology’, ‘Interspace Social Behavior’ and ‘Post Warp Art History ’. Their summaries suggested more depth than he was used to. As he listened to more and more summaries, he tried to diminish the sense of intrigue rising within him. Each time he blocked away his curiosity, a new subject would come up which felled the walls he’d placed previously.

As he neared the end of the list, he was no closer to choosing his classes than when he had begun. The problem had instead been flipped on its head. Going in, he had thought his struggle would be to find something to keep him occupied but now he felt as though he couldn't narrow down his options. Luckily he was saved from his dilemma and the implications of this train of thought by the door opening, cognitive dissonance safe to fester another day.

“Stop.” Jim commanded the Padd in the middle of the summary for ‘Xeno-Anthropology’.  
Bones raised his eyebrow at the command before realising it was meant for the device.  
“Where have you been this morning?” Jim asked.  
“I could ask you the same,” Bones said. He trudged into the room and took a seat on his own bed with a groan “I’ve been queueing up to get a medical post. All the post-grad medical students are required to get some practice under their belt.”  
“And who was lucky enough to get the fine doctor?”  
Bones sighed, “St Francis Memorials ER department.”  
“Oooo, that sounds exciting.”  
“Hardly. During the day it’ll be all broken bones and stitches and at night it’ll be stomach pumping drunk teenagers.”  
“I bet a lot of people would kill for that position.”  
“Sure, dumbasses looking for their first residency would love it. I’ve been ‘round the block long enough to know the most boring jobs out there.”  
“Isn’t Starfleet going to be mostly broken bones and stitches too?”  
“Not if I can help it, I’m fixing to get onto a research track.”  
“Yeah? You got any classes picked out?” A part of Jim wanted to just crib Bones class list. Could be fun with the grumpy doctor.  
Bones cast his gaze upwards as he searched his memory, “yeah I was thinking...Uh…. Interspecies Immunology….Xeno-Anatomical Research and possibly Non-Neuronal Intelligences.”  
Jim frowned. “None of those were on the course list.”  
“The medical school has its own courses,” Bones said then paused for a moment. “You know the whole course list?” he said raising an eyebrow at the prospect.  
“I’ve got good memory.” 

Jim did have good memory. Great memory in fact. Once he heard something it was firmly lodged in his brain. Other people constantly had to refer to written notes and calendars to remind themselves of events or key information, but Jim had an uncanny ability to hold onto to information. Sometimes really weird useless information.

Did you know that naked mole rats are the only ‘Hive’ mammal on earth? Jim did. He watched a documentary about the development of the tri-ox compound six years ago and still remembered it word for word. The tri-ox compound allowed humans to breathe on planets with low availability of oxygen. Naked mole-rats had a particular form of haemoglobin with a much higher affinity for oxygen uptake which was important to the development of the compound. Was he ever going to use that information? Probably not. Would he ever forget it? Probably not.

It was because of his good memory that Jim was able to function reasonably well within his daily life, without being able to check notes as other people did. It would never occur to him that it might, in fact, have been the other way around.

“What about you?” Bones asked, “any ideas what classes you want to take yet?”  
“Nah, the only thing I got so far is a mandatory Starfleet Procedures and Regulations class.”  
“Oh yeah, I think that’s the only thing I have in common with you undergraduate plebes.”  
“I’m gonna take that as a term of endearment.”  
“It’s not-”  
“I’ve got it, Monday afternoons.”  
“Hmph,” he grumbled, “me too.”  
“Aaaaw, maybe it’ll be less boring if I can spend it playing footsies with you.” Jim fluttered his eyelashes at Bones.  
“I’m gonna sit as far away from you as possible, you know that right?”  
Jim gave him a knowing smile, “No, you won’t.”  
He grumbled again.

“Hey, you going on that Bar crawl tonight?”  
Bones waved him off. “Hell no. You kids can go have fun tonight. I’ll be here in the morning to wake you from your alcohol-induced coma.” He had such a beautiful way of romanticizing everything.  
“C’mon Bones, I didn't listen to you rant about your divorce for that whole damn flight for you to not let loose now.”  
“I hate to tell you this kid, but you did.”  
“Aren’t you supposed to be getting over her? Starting your new life?”  
“I’m more the wallowing type.”  
Jim stopped himself from saying “I can tell” and instead pouted.  
“Don’t give me that look.”  
“Don’t you want to enjoy your newfound freedom?” Jim said adding in puppy dog eyes. “It’ll be fuuun.” He maintained the pleading stare for what felt like a full minute before Bones finally said. “Christ! Fine! If you stop with that face!”

Jim didn’t particularly like the bar crawl format for a night out. He preferred finding a really good (cheap) bar that he could get familiar with. He liked knowing how many drinks the bartender considered too many. He liked sharing a drink with the guy whose nose he broke last week. He liked knowing which particular brand of shitty music to expect. Why did no one play the classics anymore? But a bar crawl did have its uses. After all, he was new in Sans Fran, so he didn't know the cheapes-- rather the best bar yet. And any excuse to get off the Starfleet campus was a good one in Jim's book.

Jim went with his classic ‘I’ve tried really hard to make it look like I haven’t tried at all’ look. It was leaning more towards ‘haven’t tried’ as he had drastically underestimated, just how long Bones had been out of the game. Initially Bones had tried to wear a full suit, in which he himself looked about as rigid as the fabric it was made of. Jim managed to work him into a pair of black jeans and a navy blue shirt. Bones periodically tugged at the collar and sleeves but it was a significant improvement. 

The bars they visited were a lot like the students who chose them, Expensive, Loud, and filled with energy. Jim found it hard to keep track of which patrons were Starfleet students and which were locals but he found he largely didn’t care. He’d tried hitting on a few people but wasn't having much luck. He even tried wing-manning for Bones on the odd occasion, but no matter how many drinks he had in him it didn't seem to dislodge the foot from his mouth. How the hell had this guy ever gotten married?

He saw Uhura around a couple times with various people he recognised from his dorms. Despite being the one to invite him out she seemed to be avoiding him. He left Bones at one point to grab them both drinks and returned to find him talking to her. Upon seeing him appear from behind Bones she rolled her eyes and closed herself off.  
“Hey!” He tried for welcoming smile but she didn't seem responsive.  
“Kirk.” She said flatly.  
Bones looked between the two of them with concern. Jim shrugged at him trying to communicate that he had no idea what the deal was.

“Uhura!,” an Orian with unusual bright red hair called from across the bar. She bounced towards them and crashed into Uhura.  
“Hey Galia,” Uhura tried to return the clumsy hug.  
Galia’s eyes roamed over both Jim and Bones. “Who are these cuties? You haven’t been keeping them from me have you?”  
“Trust me Galia, neither of these guys are good for you.”  
Galia frowned clearly unhappy with the implications of that.  
“Come now Uhura,” Jim kept his gaze on Galia, “don’t you think the lovely lady here can determine that for herself?”  
Galia giggled, which caused Uhura to cross her arms.  
“I’m Jim” he said then slapped Bones on the back prompting him to speak.  
“Leonard Mccoy, pleased to make your acquaintance, Ma’am.” He offered his hand. The alcohol had not loosened him up at all. Galia took his hand and offered him a coy smile, it seemed she didn't mind his particular brand of southern charm.  
“C’mon Galia, let’s go,” Uhura said taking her arm.  
Galia rolled her eyes. “I just got here!”  
Uhura looked expectantly at her.  
“God, I hate when you get like this. Just leave if you don’t want to be here.”  
Uhura whipped around causing her ponytail to almost hit Jim in the face and stormed off. Galia rolled her eyes as Uhura slipped back into the crowd.  
“I’m sorry about her. Sometimes she just needs to act like a bitch for a while.”  
“Ah, don’t worry about it, I think it’s my fault anyway.”  
“Oh, it’s definitely your fault,” Bones interjected, causing Galia to giggle again.  
“So, do either of you boys wanna dance with me?" She said lightly swaying her hips and shoulders.  
Jim was entranced by the circular motion of her hips, he was about to respond when Bones said “Naw, I don’t do dancing.”  
Galia pouted but kept up her movements.  
“You're not seriously going to deny this beautiful woman, are you?”  
“I don’t dance.”  
Jim turned towards Bones. “I thought you came out to have fun.”  
“No. You came out to have fun. I came out to drink.”  
Jim suppressed a sigh. “Well I’m not going to let her dance alone.”  
He took Galia’s hand. She started moving backwards leading him into the crowd of the dancefloor. Behind him Jim heard Bones mutter: “I need another drink.”

Galia lead him deep into the crowd until the two were completely engulfed in music and moving bodies. The musty smell of sweat mingled with the sharp smell of alcohol. The intensity of Galia’s undulations increased as Jim began to mirror her movements. At first they maintained a respectable distance, but as time moved on they found themselves completely pressed against each other. At some point their swaying turned into grinding. He held her hips and pressed his pelvis against hers. She ran her hands up and down her body in a way that accentuated all of her curves. 

Jim caught a whiff of a sweet smell. It seemed to shift between all his favourite things changing from honey to cocoa to fresh apple cider. It drove him mad. He buried his nose into the joint between Galia’s neck and shoulder and took in as much of that scent as he could. How could he forget that he was dancing with an Orion? He felt a fog settle over his mind. A part of him hated the loss of control but that was shut up by the intense fever taking over his whole body.  
“Do you like that?” Galia whispered into his ear.  
Kirk, known for his quick wit and sharp tongue, could not find any words. He simply nodded into her neck. Galia responded by increasing the intensity of the smell which he eagerly drank in.

As the fever spread throughout him it set his nerves on fire. Every point of contact between them sent a shiver down his spine. He felt goosebumps rising all over. His mind was taken over by one singular thought: More. 

He was just about to ask her back to his room when she very suddenly stopped. He barely contained a whine at the lack of movement.  
“Is your friend okay?” She asked.  
He could barely grasp the meaning of the words. Still focused on her body. The sweet smell he desperately sought after was quickly dissipating.

Jim looked to where she was pointing. Bones was sat hunched over, his head laying on the bar. He has a gathering of empty glasses encircling him. He looked drunk. Really drunk. And not the good kind of drunk where you could convince them to do a funny dare for you to record and embarrass them later. The bad kind of drunk that meant he would be spending a significant portion of the evening bent over the toilet. How long had Jim been dancing? He’d completely lost track of time. 

By the time Jim fought his way to the bar Bones had summoned the effort to lift his head.  
He called the barman while raising an empty glass, “I’ll have another of these!”  
“No, he won’t,” Jim said as he approached, “How’re you doin’ buddy?”  
Jim grabbed Bones by the shoulders but was shrugged off.  
“Just peachy, thanks.”  
“I think it may be time to take you home.”  
“Well you’d be wrong then.”  
The Barman crossed his arms as he assessed Bones, “I think you should listen to your friend here.”  
Leonards face soured. “Screw this.” He pushed himself up from the bar and attempted to walk away but made barely three steps before Jim had to catch his fall.  
“Okay Buddy, off we go.” Jim leaned Bones against himself and hooked his arm over his shoulders to carry him out. Bones weakly struggled against the hold for a few moments before resigning himself to incoherent grumbling.

“I’m not sure what you’re complaining about, Bones, I’m the one who had a sure thing going.”  
Luckily seeing Bones in this state seemed to be all he needed to sober up and calm certain parts of his anatomy. On the way out of the club he noticed Galia looking at him with concern. He gave her a reassuring smile and waved goodbye.

When they emerged from the club he sat Bones down against a wall while he tried to figure out how to get home. He was looking around for inspiration when he saw Uhura talking to another group of first years.  
“Uhura!,” he called out to her.  
She looked over her shoulder at him then turned back to the group she was currently talking to. After a few moments she came towards them.  
“Christ Kirk! what did you do to him?”  
“Me? He did this to himself!”  
Bones made a faint groan at them from the floor.  
“Is he gonna be okay?,” Uhura asked.  
“Yeah. He’ll make it, I think. Do you have the number for a taxi? I wanna take him home.”  
“Do you want me to send him home with one of the other ambassadors? I think Grant is still inside.”  
It was a really tempting offer. Jim’s mind cast straight back to Galia and her enticing dance. When he looked down at Bones he couldn’t though. He didn’t want to fob him off on a stranger.  
“Nah, I got it. I know how to look after drunks.”  
Uhura looked over his face assessing his features. “Okay then. I’ll call a cab for you two. You alright to wait here on your own, while I take these guys to the next Club?”  
“Yeah, we’ll be alright.”

While waiting for the taxi, Jim had to guide Bones over to a gutter so he could puke where it wouldn’t make a mess. Well too much of a mess. A mess was definitely made. Hopefully what they said about San Francisco rain was true and it’d be washed away soon. The two of them made it back to their room in one piece. Bones didn't even puke once during the cab ride. Small graces. 

Jim considered shoving Bones into the sonic shower but he didn’t particularly feel like undressing him. At least not in this state. Instead he laid Bones in his bed in the fetal position. He grabbed the trash and dragged it over to sit next to his head. Thank god Starfleet had the sense not to use wire-mesh baskets. He grabbed a hand towel and went to the bathroom to dampen it. From the doorway he could hear a faint, “Jo-jo.” Jim wasn't sure whether he was thinking of his wife, Jocelyn, or his daughter, Joanna. Seriously who named their kid like that. That's just asking for trouble. He ignored the hypocrisy of George ‘Sam’ Kirk from his own family. He sat down in front of Bones. As he brought the damp cloth up to wipe his face he heard a mutter “Will she ever forgive me?” That was a really loaded question. Jim had no context from which to draw an answer from. He was no good at this emotional stuff.  
The only thing he could think off to say was, “I dunno buddy.”

That settled it. Bones wasn't allowed to drink alone again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this? a timely update?
> 
> I don't know if If this is really a thing in America, but in British universities we have something called 'fresher's week' where basically you go clubbing for a week straight before classes start. Older students are there to make sure that the first years don't kill themselves going clubbing in a new city. Anyway I promise I will get freshers week out of the way next chapter so that we can start the real fun of Jim trying to keep up with his lessons. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed reading!

**Author's Note:**

> I don't really know where this idea came from, I was just thinking about AOS Kirk before the events of the movie and his family life and it kinda got me thinking about Jim joining Starfleet even though he is illiterate.
> 
> I'm going to be basing a lot of this on my own experiences with low literacy when I was younger. As well as a heck load of research.
> 
> The title comes from Levar Burtons Reading Rainbow "You don't have to take my word for it. You can read it in a book!" I got the idea to use that from talking to my mom about the programme. i thought it was a nice little joke to myself. 
> 
> I hope you Enjoyed Reading!


End file.
